‘Larger than life’ sociologist who broke down racial barriers at University of Kentucky dies at 88
Doris Y. Wilkinson (Photo provided by University of Kentucky)
Doris Y. Wilkinson, a University of Kentucky sociologist and part of its first class of Black undergraduates, died June 23. She was 88.
Wilkinson entered UK in 1954, the year a U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawed racial segregation in public education and the first year that Kentucky’s flagship public university accepted Black undergraduates.
She had graduated from Lexington’s segregated Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, where, according to her obituary, she was valedictorian and homecoming queen.
Wilknson went on to earn master’s and doctoral degrees from Case Western Reserve University and in 1985 a master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She taught at Kent State University in Ohio before returning to UK in 1969, where she became the first Black woman to secure a full-time faculty position, joining the Department of Sociology.
She was director of the Project on African American Heritage in the UK sociology department, the winner of many honors and author of numerous articles and eight books, according to the Notable Kentucky African Americans Database. She was a Ford Foundation Fellow at Harvard University in 1989-90.
In honor of UK’s 70 years of integration, in 2019, Wilkinson was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters — “a testament to her lifelong commitment to academia and social justice,” says a UK release.
UK President Eli Capilouto described Wilkinson as “powerful, influential and, at times, larger than life.”
“It is with deep sadness that I learn of her passing, but I am comforted in knowing that her legacy continues to run deep across the foundation of our community. Throughout her life, she faced adversity with the kind of fierce determination and unwavering grace that pushed open doors and ensured they never closed,” Capilouto said. “We are grateful to be beneficiaries of her goodness and intellect, her perseverance and drive, her passion for education and devotion to progress. We are proud to count her as an indelible part of the UK family.”
Doris Yvonne Wilkinson was born June 13, 1936 in Lexington to Howard T. and Regina L. Wilkinson. She was preceded in death by her sister, Carolyn Wilkinson-Baker, and is survived by many first cousins. She was a member of East Second Street Christian Church and attended Historic Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 29, at Milward Funeral Home, 391 Southland Drive in Lexington. Visitation will be prior to the service from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m Internment will be at Cove Haven Cemetery, 984 Whitney Avenue, Lexington.
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